Something I have really enjoyed this summer is reading ‘cozies’. The term ‘cozy’ typically refers to ‘ a mystery story where any violence occurs off stage, the detective is an amateur sleuth, and the crime and the detection take place in a small, socially intimate community’ (Wikipedia). I have expanded that to any series where the action takes place in a small, socially intimate community and where there is little to no violence involved. In other words, the way I feel when I read a story in the series is ‘comfy/cozy’, while still feeling delightfully involved with the characters.

I can think of 3 series like this :

1) The Irish Country Doctor series, by Patrick Taylor.
These are set in Northern Ireland in the 1950s, and are, for me, really engaging stories of a life in a rural village. I discovered the series this year and I am making my way through most of the books. I just can’t get enough of them!

2) The No. 1 Ladies’ Detective Agency by Alexander McCall Smith.

This series is set in Botswana, and stars an amateur detective named Precious Ramotswe. I adore this series, as Precious has a very good understanding of human nature. The pace is slow!, but for me, I can remain engaged with the story and I laugh out loud a lot!

3) The Mrs Jeffries detective series by Emily Brightwell

This series is set in Victorian times. The detective, Inspector Witherspoon, is pretty good at his job, but doesn’t realize how much his household helps him solve the crimes with which he is involved. The books, for me are just adorable because I get to observe how the household helps him out so gently and respectfully and how, together, they always figure out ‘whodunnit’!

In COVID times, I find reading a ‘cozy’ before going to sleep is so enjoyable and so something to look forward to after being exposed to various kinds of distressing news all day. I can highly recommend finishing your day tucked into bed with a ‘cozy’!

About a month ago, my minister introduced us during a church service to one of the sweetest and most effective practices I have been exposed to, and now try to practice daily. I am not sure what its actual name is, but I call it Ten Finger Gratitude.

During the church service, Allan invited us to look at our 10 fingers and focussing on one finger at a time, name one thing we are grateful for. I loved doing this! It was so sweet and simple to actually focus on each finger and think of something I could give thanks for.

I have found as each day has passed since then, that the daily practice of naming 10 things I am grateful for has produced a lovely sense of contentment and grounding even amidst a time which is by its very nature very ungrounding.

I wanted to share this practice with you today in the hopes that you too will enjoy it and find it helpful.

Happy Sunday, Happy August! May this month be filled with the delights of the season… like juicy peaches, ice cream cones, lots of porch visits with friends and family, swimming at a beach and time to reflect, before the fall is upon us.

Hallelujah!

As you know, this year I have reading and savouring the revised version of Simple Abundance by Sarah Ban Breathnach. In the July 20 reading, Sarah introduced me to an English writer, Rupert Brooke. He was called ‘The Great War poet’ because he wrote during the First World War, and died in 1915. Sarah writes, “ Rupert Brooke spoke of those few lucky souls who could “ store up reservoirs of calm and content… and draw on them at later moments when the source isn’t there, but the need is very great.”

This idea really intrigued me. Wow! Is it truly possible to store up a reservoir of calm and content which can be drawn upon at later moments? Where in my body would I say this reservoir is/would be located? I can say that right now I don’t consciously have such a place of reservoir in my body, but I really want to! I spent some time this morning pondering where would it would be located. I thought of times in my life when great endurance was needed and an ability to stay calm in the midst of a storm. Where was the ability to stay calm located in my body? I think I know that part of it after thinking about it carefully. Now it’s a matter of consciously putting away a store of calm and content, like a squirrel gathers nuts and stores them for the winter. I am really looking forward to trying to do this, and asking God in prayer how to do this. I wanted to share this possibility with you too, as we continue to experience challenging times in our world.

With so much love and gratitude for each of you,

Sue

I love the word ‘discombobulation’. Doesn’t that word sound like what it actually is? I am noticing that more and more people around me are acting discombobulated, and I know for sure that I am too! I thought summertime would calm us all down, but it doesn’t seem to have- maybe because it was so very hot last week and so difficult to sleep well.

I am thinking this morning about what works to un-discombobulate me when it happens, and what works to keep me feeling calmer and more relaxed, even during this state of emergency in our world.

1) For sure, sitting quietly listening to Hildegard of Bingen chants works well. This is because when I hear them, I am reminded of sitting in the Catholic cathedral during mass, cuddled up beside my Dad, when I was a little girl. The chants remind me of the choir sitting high up in the choir loft behind us singing in Latin, the fragrance of incense, and the feeling of quietness and calm I felt sitting beside my dad there. Because of this, I think that if we can create a link in our mind’s eye to a very calming, relaxing experience of childhood, we can use this to calm ourselves when it feels like a turbulent sea inside of us.

2) I find holding and using prayer beads really calms me down too. I remember my paternal grandmother and my paternal aunt holding their rosaries, and I remember feeling very calm and comforted in their presence watching them pray their rosaries. I made myself a set of prayer beads out of colourful clay beads, with each bead representing a friend or family member I want to pray for. Listening to Hildegard chants while praying with my prayer beads is doubly calming for me!!

3) Another thing that really works for me is to recognize when I am holding a less than powerful perspective in my mind, one that makes me feel helpless and/or hopeless. I have shared with you some of Rick Tamlyn’s writings. I find him to be a master perspective shifter for me. Yesterday he said in his blog, “I believe that our job right now is to be with all that is happening, but not be run by all that is happening. Yes! That made helpful sense to me. We have to acknowledge that these are difficult times, and take in the news about what is happening daily, but we don’t have to be run by it. He encourages us to be forward looking in the sense of having a dream and working towards it. He said, “We must stay in the game, even though the structure of the game we thought we were in just changed completely.” That’s for sure!!! From this I realized that when I am feeling discombobulated, I can return to thinking about what it is I am hoping/trying to create, and then keep on working on designing it.

God bless each one of you with a wonderful restorative summer, overall! May calm seas and beautiful vistas and pleasurable horizons be yours!

Love, Sue

Finally, after months of confinement, we find ourselves able to visit with friends again, albeit cautiously, and usually outside. We can go swimming. We can sit on a chaise lounge and drink a tall, cold glass of lemonade. Ahhh! Summer.

For some reason, summer is sort and pitch time for me. I just have an urge to toss out what is no longer needed to make room for the new. For me, fall is the New Year, and I am hopeful it will bring us all good things.

During this year’s sort and pitch I came across this beautiful little poem:

The Edge of Center

All tempest has,

Like a navel,

A hole in its middle,

Through which

A gull can fly,

In silence.

—14th century Japanese, Anonymous

While sitting in the shade, glass of lemonade in hand, I can really connect with that ‘hole in the middle’. It is wonderful, at least sometimes, to be able to connect with that clear, beautiful spot in our souls.

May you be blessed with many such quiet, meaningful, contented moments this summer.

Again this Sunday, I really enjoyed Rick Tamlyn’s words. This week he made a You Tube video called 4 Ways to be More Intentional. He talked about 4 spaces we could choose to go to daily that would lead to us feeling more settled, contented and productive. Here they are:

1) The Human Mess Space.

This is the one where we allow ourselves to go to feel frustrated, upset, and even have a meltdown in if needed! For me, this would be going to the beach, diving in and having a swim. I can go there feeling like a human mess, and every time, within a few minutes of hitting the cold water, I feel so much better!

2) The Grounded Space

This is the place where we go to feel connected, centred, calm and grounded. For me, this is the tiny spiral labryinth in my backyard. When I go there, and begin to walk among the pine cones, sticks and stones, and forget me nots, I instantly feel connected to nature, my breathing slows down and I feel that all will be well!

3) The Creative Space

This is the place we go when we want to be creative. For me, this is my art table, where I can make a collage, a homemade card, or a piece of art for a friend. Here I can easily lose track of time, become focussed on colour, nice paper, and just generally feel like a kid again!

4) The Service Space

This is the place we go when we want to serve and help others. For me, it could be sitting down at my laptop to write a blogpost for you! It could be doing life coaching on Zoom, or offering a Nia class. It’s any place where I can forget about myself, and put my attention on the person I want to serve, focussing on them and their situation, their needs, their feelings, their hopes and dreams. It feels great in the midst of the pandemic to be able to serve.

That’s it! Those are the 4 Spaces. Rick suggested going to each of these spaces daily, for the next 5 days in a row. I am going to take up his challenge, and if you feel so moved, please feel free to join me, and let’s see what happens!

Rick Tamlyn writes a newsletter each Sunday morning. Rick is one of the co-creators of the Bigger Game, a workshop experience that I lead, and he was also one of the co-leaders of a year long Leadership program I took in 2009. This Sunday’s newsletter was especially helpful to me.

Rick made the distinction between managing and creating. He said that the world has changed, and we have to adjust to that. He said we can either try to maintain things the way they have been, or we can be open to creating something new.

The thing that really helped me was what he said next :

“The manager in you wants to maintain what is and the leader in you wants to create something new. Trying to ‘ manage’ activates anxiety. Creating, on the other hand, will activate your aliveness and your zest for life. “

He said, “You cannot experience anxiety and creativity in your mind, body and soul at the same time.”

For the past few days I have been thinking about this last sentence. I have found it to be true. If I am busy creating something- a blogpost, a piece of art, a piece of writing for my next book, it’s true- I get so engaged with that, that I don’t feel anxious. And if I am feeling anxious, the best thing I can do is engage in something creative.

For me, the distinction between managing and creating has been a big help!

I help it will be the same for you!!

A friend forwarded me a You Tube video this morning called The Consciousness Button. The speaker is Caroline Myss, a medical intuitive, who has written many books. She is now 67. She made the video yesterday and she was addressing what she thinks is going on in the bigger picture of our world today. She spoke of something called ‘Vertical Time’, where all change is immediate and profound.

I have definitely felt this way in the past few weeks. Big changes are happening, very quickly, with no time to process or integrate them. What I found really helpful in this 18 minute You Tube video was that it began to put into a context for me what I am experiencing. Now I have some words and terms I can use when talking to others other than, “Boy I feel weird these days.” or “Doesn’t the world feel so weird these days?” I haven’t been able to speak more clearly than that about what I am sensing and feeling.

An amazing thing to me was that right at the end of the video, all of a sudden, Caroline began to speak about how important, powerful and helpful prayer is. She didn’t elaborate on it much, but I thought it was fabulous that just when I had been thinking and writing about how helpful prayer is, across the continent, an inspiring speaker was saying the same.

We are indeed more connected than we know, and what happens to one of us, truly is happening to all of us. This is pretty cool!

Something that I have to learn over and over is the difference between fretting and praying. I know that I have been fretting again when I feel ill at ease inside, not calm or trusting. When I examine myself I see that I have been asking myself questions, such as “What if?” … “Will this ever end?” I am thinking about difficulties, worries and challenges at those times, but I am not praying about them.

Philippians 4:6-7 says, “Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.”

I love that these verses give us a clear and simple formula for what to do when we are caught in fretting, stewing and worrying in our minds, feeling scared, hopeless and helpless about various things going on in our world and in our own lives.

For me, the key is to realize what I am doing. “Ah ha!! I am fretting again!!”’ Once I realize it, I turn my fretting into prayer by consciously bringing each concern, one by one, to God. I begin to say, “God, you know about x and I want to give this worry to you. Please help me handle the situation. Please, You do something about it.”

I find as I very deliberately take each item of concern to God, mysteriously and beautifully, peace of mind comes again. I have done something constructive with my worry. I have put my trust in God, my Creator, to bear it with me and to help me.

I love Matthew 11:28 ,” Come to me all you who are weary and burdened and I will give you rest.” Fantastic news! And I have found in my own life, this verse is true!

May it be so/become so in your life too!

I came across a You Tube video today made by Dr Ashok Bhattacharya called The Social Emotional Ripple Effect of a Pandemic, Episode 7 : Brain Fitness.

In just a minute or two, Dr Bhattacharya talks about his model of how our brain is set up and what we can do to exercise all parts of our brain for optimum health. I loved it! Something I hadn’t been doing was focusing on developing my balance. Lately I have started back at it, using exercises from a book I read many years ago called Strong Women Stay Young by Miriam Nelson. Having seen Dr Bhattacharya’s video today, I feel motivated to do these simple balance exercises as often as I can, and certainly twice a week as recommended.

It’s just nice to know there are some simple things I can do to keep my brain fit and my body strong during this time of pandemic.

If you google Dr Ashok Bhattacharya You Tube Video, you will see there are 5 or 6 short, sweet, practical and encouraging videos to watch. Enjoy!